City Living: Preventative Medicine

Philadelphia is innovating around public health: The Food Trust, a nonprofit there, has teamed up with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of London to explore the health benefits of making healthy food more accessible in low-income neighborhoods. Progress Plaza, a shopping center initially developed by West Philadelphia churchgoers with $10-a-month investments in the 1960s, will soon get a brand new Fresh Grocer to replace the SuperFresh Grocery that moved out in the 1990s, leaving only a "fried chicken restaurant, wig emporium and half a dozen shuttered shops." Researchers will study whether this urban innovation can help make up for the disproportionate share (96%) of the nation's health care dollars that are spent on taking care of the sick as opposed to preventative care. Other cities are also seeking preventative health solutions: New York is slated to extend the city's bike paths by 200 miles, it's already banned smoking in most offices, retaurants, and bars, and there are proposals to eliminate trans fats from its 24,000 restaurants. In addition to being economic engines, cities are apparently America's health solutions, too.

  

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